Horned melon (Kivano): types, description and characteristics, cultivation with photo

Today, interesting times have come for lovers of the exotic, when you can buy a lot of food, and, in particular, fruits. One of them is Horned Melon. This is an amazing fruit that grows in the hot climate of Africa. It attracts many gourmets with its yellow-orange skin and jelly-like, tart-tasting flesh.

Characteristic of Kiwano

Kivano melon, Anguria, Melano, African cucumber - these are all the names of this plant. This is a herbaceous annual vine. She is a close relative of our cucumbers. An exotic culture blooms in yellow, has large, strongly dissected leaves.Plant height due to creeping climbing shoots can reach up to 4 meters. It has numerous tendrils on its stems, and the culture also branches heavily.

The fruits of African exotics are elliptical in shape, strange, large spikes are placed on them. While they are not yet ripe, they have a light green skin color, and later change their color to yellow-orange. The flesh of Kiwano is dark green, jelly-like, with a lemon flavor. The size of the fruit is identical to a pot-bellied cucumber (6-12 cm), and it weighs 40-350 grams.

The ripening period lasts up to about 70 days from emergence. The fruiting start time is the middle of summer, up to 50 fruits can be tied on the plant for the entire period.

Chemical composition and useful properties

This fruit consists of proteins, fats and carbohydrates.It contains many vitamins, especially groups B and P, as well as ascorbic acid and beta-carotene. With trace elements, Kiwano contains potassium, iron, calcium, manganese, phosphorus and copper with zinc. In addition, the fruits of this plant also contain organic acids and s alts.

Useful qualities of Horned Melon are:

1. It can be grown both as a vegetable plant and as an ornamental crop. The fruits look so beautiful on vines that you can use them to create original compositions. It is also possible to use fruit to decorate the Christmas tree.
2. This is a low-calorie, high-liquid product. The fruits of this culture should be eaten when losing weight.
3. Overseas fruit has a number of healing properties. It has a good effect on human he alth in case of cardiovascular diseases, anemia, atherosclerosis, tuberculosis, gout, bronchitis.
4. Kivano fruit juice is used as a sedative. It is very useful to drink for people with sleep disorders. To do this, take 15 drops of juice and add honey.
5. Juice also removes toxins and radionuclides.
6. Horned melon improves intestinal motility, and when applied externally to the skin, it actively heals burns and open wounds.
7. The sweet taste of the fruit will not prevent diabetics from using it.
8. You can make original plates or cups from its peel if you dry them after eating the pulp.

No harmful substances were found in Kiwano, however, some people may have an allergic reaction to it.

Ways to eat exotic fruit

At a time when we are only thinking about how to eat it, the people of Africa use it both as a main ingredient in dishes and as a snack.

It tastes very interesting: it resembles a mixture of banana, lemon, zucchini, and even cucumber. By consistency, the pulp of an exotic fruit is jelly-like and fragrant. An excellent solution is to consume the fruit fresh. To do this, it is cut into two parts and eaten with a spoon. Of course, you can suck out the pulp and discard the seeds.

Also, it is eaten in salads, sprinkled with s alt and pepper, and poured with lemon juice. An interesting taste appears in jams and cocktails when Kiwano is added.

Besides eating it raw, Horned Melon can be s alted and canned. For this, young fruits are used, which in a pickled state have a much richer taste than cucumbers. Gourmets speak of them as a delicacy. But of course, the maximum benefit and the best taste of Kiwano is immediately after harvest.

How to grow Horned melon from seed?

Since many people like this fruit, the question arises about its cultivation. In order for a plant to grow from seeds, you need to do the work in several stages:

1. Preparation of seeds. To do this, they are soaked in a growth stimulator. Seed material swells and this contributes to earlier germination.
2. Disembarkation in containers. They are filled with a nutrient substrate and seeds are sown. Water after sowing. Withstand for some time in a warm place.
3. Choosing a place for the growth of seedlings. Although the sun is hot in Africa, direct rays can cause burns on leaf plates. Therefore, only diffused sunlight is shown to seedlings.
4. Landing in open ground. At the end of the last frost, the seedlings are planted in the soil. When transplanting, observe the distance between rows of 50 centimeters.

Particular attention is paid to the place where the culture will grow: it must be protected from both winds and the scorching sun. When you do not follow this recommendation, you can not wait for the fruits, because the leaves will burn, and the ovaries will fall off.

Plant care

Caring for this exotic crop consists in the timely performance of certain operations. These are weeding and loosening, watering, top dressing, pinching, tying, collecting Kiwano.

Loosen and remove weeds as crusts appear on the surface of the soil and grass grows.

Watered up to 3 times a week, as this plant is moisture-loving. It also responds well to feeding. They are held regularly. To prepare the solution, mullein, chicken manure or other nitrogen-containing fertilizers are used.Such dressings alternate with mineral ones - complex fertilizers are ideal for this. Foliar spraying also gives good results.

The next step is to pinch the side branches to the ovary, and the barren flower is completely removed. Plants must be tied up, as these are vines. To do this, it is enough to make a wooden stand for them and fix the shoots of this culture to it.

The ovaries are removed in a day or two. The regularity of harvesting will encourage the plant to grow new fruits. When the fruiting season is over, it is advisable to put Kiwano in compost.

Today everyone can grow a Horned Melon. With proper care, this plant can give an excellent harvest. Kiwano will delight people with both the decorativeness of its appearance and delicious fruits. Also, these fruits will not only make up for the deficiency of nutrients, but also improve a person’s well-being in many diseases.

Recommended